Created custom UITableViewCell - Can I link the design up to a XIB file?

Question

I've got a custom class that inherits from UITableViewCell. I know how to dynamically add items to the custom cell by using layoutSubviews, however I've got a rather complex cell that I'd like to design from the Interface Builder and a XIB file.

Is there a way to do this? If so, how? Keep in mind, I'm very new at XCode so the more detail you provide the better. :)

Thanks in advance for the help.

Answer 1

In your UITableViewController subclass, add an IBOutlet for your custom cell class:

@property(nonatomic,retain)IBOutlet UITableViewCell *customCell;

Then, in your custom cell xib, set File's Owner to your UITableViewController subclass, and assign the outermost view to the IBOutlet on File's Owner. For each subview that you want to access programmatically, assign a unique value to its tag property. Let's say your custom cell has 3 labels, which you've tagged 1, 2, and 3.

Finally, in your cellForRowAtIndexPath method, load the nib into the outlet using the loadNibNamed method. See the API docs for an explanation of how this works.

UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:CellIdentifier];
if (cell == nil) {
    // assuming nib is MyCustomCell.xib
    [[NSBundle mainBundle] loadNibNamed:@"MyCustomCell" owner:self options:nil];

    // assign IBOutlet to cell
    cell = customCell;

    // clear IBOutlet
    self.customCell = nil;
}

Now you can access the tagged views in your custom cell using the viewWithTag method on your cell:

UILabel *label1 = (UILabel *)[cell viewWithTag:1];
label1.text = @"foo";

UILabel *label2 = (UILabel *)[cell viewWithTag:2];
label2.text = @"bar";

UILabel *label3 = (UILabel *)[cell viewWithTag:3];
label3.text = @"baz";